


Treasure

by TenSpencerRiedPlease



Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Small Town, Auguste is a good big brother, But not as much of one, College, Damen is a sweetheart, Govart is a twat, Hockey, Laurent is still a bitch, M/M, My First Work in This Fandom, POV Laurent (Captive Prince), Small Towns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-12
Updated: 2017-09-12
Packaged: 2018-12-26 21:29:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12067314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TenSpencerRiedPlease/pseuds/TenSpencerRiedPlease
Summary: The rivalry between Akielos and Vere has been there for as long as anyone could remember though neither town could remember what the cause of the rivalry was now. Regardless of their remembrance of what caused the fission between the two towns they both took their rivalry very seriously, which was how Laurent found himself watching Damen of Akielos playing hockey willingly and not at a game between him and Laurent’s older brother Auguste.





	Treasure

**Author's Note:**

> So I just got through the first book and I'm a little through the second and I liked the books way more than I thought I would. Maybe that's because the main characters have a really interesting dynamic.
> 
> Either way, this is my first time writing anything for this fandom so uh... here's to hoping I got the characters even remotely right here! I had an idea though so I chose to write a thing so test the waters.

Laurent knew there were many benefits to being beautiful and, for a man, somewhat small. The main benefit was that he was consistently underestimated by near everyone he knew and now was no exception. The rivalry between Akielos and Vere has been there for as long as anyone could remember though neither town could remember what the cause of the rivalry was now. Regardless of their remembrance of what caused the fission between the two towns they both took their rivalry very seriously, which was how Laurent found himself watching Damen of Akielos playing hockey willingly and not at a game between him and Laurent’s older brother Auguste. Laurent was not much the athletic type much to his father’s dismay though he wasn’t necessarily inadequate at the sport either. He preferred books and he knew better than to try and live up to his brother anyways. This was Auguste‘s arena of play and he was happy to leave him to it. He was not, however, happy to watch his brother lose a game even if it was thanks to Govart’s utter incompetence.

Govart was a useful battering ram but that was where his use stopped. Unfortunately for Auguste Govart thought himself intelligent and useful and thanks to his stupidity they had lost a game and Damen had scored the winning goal. Laurent knew it was petty to take the game so seriously but he disliked seeing his brother upset and with all the effort he was putting into keeping his grades high and keeping up in his chosen sport, something that wasn’t easy for a college student, Laurent decided to take matters into his own hands. He and Damen have never met though he’s been to many games to watch him play. It was surprising that Damen had not taken notice of him before given that he was near tailor fit to Damen’s tastes. Blonde hair, fair skin, blue eyes, pretty. Damen always seemed to notice the blondes but for some reason despite having seen him around, Laurent was sure, Damen never seemed to notice him. Well, at least until Laurent wanted himself to be noticed.

His looks were nothing new to him and he knew how to use his soft, enticing features to get what he wanted. He was also rather known for being a tease, or in Govart’s blunt words, an ‘cast iron bitch’. His personal favorite was frigid. He rather liked the icy image of himself that the word conjured in his mind. He could see it now, himself all dressed in blue, his fair skin glittering white like the snow with only a slight blush to his cheeks to break up the pale expanse of his skin, and atop his head he’d wear a crown of ice. Frigid, he liked that. Besides, it was better to be frigid than Govart, who was quite likely going to find himself in a CDC lab where they would run experiments on him wondering how me managed to catch so many sexually transmitted diseases. That was nowhere near as regal as the image Laurent had drawn for himself out of frigid. He wondered if the news of his lack of a sex life had travelled into Akielos so that even Damen heard about it. Probably. He could hear it now, the hockey team in Akielos talking in the locker room about how Auguste’s brother was a frigid bitch like it would somehow win them the game to know something like that. The thought makes him smile unexpectedly and that, ultimately, is what he thinks draws Damen over.

He isn’t the only one sitting in the stands watching him practice but he is one of three blondes and Laurent was easily the fairest and the prettiest. Damen himself contrasted Laurent’s features with tanned skin, dark hair, and a considerably larger build. He smiles at Laurent in a way he’s sure the brute thinks is pretty. “Hey sweetheart,” he says and Laurent barely resists the urge to rolls his eyes. Instead he offers a coy smile that works on everyone.

He’s surprised to find, then, that Damen looks mostly unaffected by his charms or at least he’s good at hiding what he’s thinking. “You’re quite good,” he says, nodding to the ice. Compliments, however small they were, went a long way.

Damen smiles wider at this, “I guess you’d know, you’re the only one watching what I’m doing with me feet,” he says and Laurent, for just a moment, is shaken by that. Of course he was watching what Damen was doing with his feet, the whole point of this excursion was to get a better sense of how he played so he could report back to his brother. He didn’t think Damen would notice that though.

“I appreciate the sport,” he says lightly. It wasn’t a lie technically, he did appreciate hockey in it’s own way, even if he had more of the build of a figure skater and the grace of one too.

This gets him an appreciative nod, “do you play?” Damen asks, smile turning outright flirtatious.

“Sometimes, if there’s something to be gained from it,” he says back. With Auguste he usually tested the speed of the players because Laurent was faster than all of them, Auguste included. It was the only way he was better in the sport than his brother but unlike most he took no real pride in it and Auguste wasn’t jealous of him. Neither had a use for pitting themselves against each other when they knew they’d never live up to the other’s strengths anyways. It was best to encourage each other and ask for advice if they needed it. Laurent rarely needed sports help but Auguste did benefit from Laurent’s study habits. Mostly Laurent let Auguste teach him how to play sports because he could use the exercise, he appreciated the time with his brother, and they were fun so long as Govart was nowhere to be found. Not that he made his usual crude remarks with Auguste around, no one did. They were all afraid of what Auguste would do. They should be more afraid of Laurent but he’d bide his time.

“‘Something to be gained from it’,” Damen repeats Laurent’s words slowly. “I’m sure I have something you might find a use for,” he says. Laurent expects the words to be a thinly veiled sexual come on, Damen had a reputation to consider even before he took his own looks into account, but Damen is genuine. It surprises Laurent so he raises an eyebrow.

“I’m sure I could find something of use from you too,” he says and it’s an obvious flirtation. Damen, for the first time, gives Laurent a brief look up and down. He had a preference for women but Laurent knew he wasn’t unopposed to men and even if he were it wouldn’t be the first time someone looked at Laurent and questioned their sexuality.

*

Laurent has always been aware of his body; it was hard not to be when people constantly made comments about it, so he uses it as a distraction to Damen. The others in the stands are clearly jealous that _Laurent_ has caught Damen’s attentions instead of them and that makes this game all the more fun to play. Damen plays along with his flirtatious game of hockey, one he was letting Damen win by a mile, until he catches Laurent and swings them both to a stop. It might have been impressive if Laurent were trying given how fast he was but this was mostly a way to see Damen’s skill up close, not a real game. And Damen was better up close than he was far away that was certain, even when Laurent was sure he was also holding back.

“Come on now, don’t pretend to be bad at the game to flatter me,” he says. “I can tell you’re better than what you’re letting on.”

He’s caught by surprise again but he doesn’t let it show. “Really now? And how could you know that?” he asks in a silky tone.

Damen laughs, “you’ve let like five goals go past you despite having more than enough time to stop them. Plus you’re too graceful to actually be that clumsy in skates,” he says.

Well, that was a surprise but Laurent supposed if he wanted to see Damen’s skill he might as well test it. “Well, if you want a real game…” Laurent says in the same silky tone as before and he smiles at Damen before taking off at top speeds. He can hear Damen swear as he tries to catch up and fails.

*

“How exactly did you learn all this?” Auguste asks when Laurent brings him back a wealth of information on how Damen moved. It shocked him but Damen might actually be genuinely better than Auguste and Laurent hadn’t thought that was possible. He had learned quickly that catching up to Laurent probably wasn’t going to happen so he started outmaneuvering him instead, which worked well most of the time not that Laurent didn’t give him a run for his money. By the time they had finally gotten off the ice Damen asked who he played for and, truthfully, he told him he didn’t play on a team. Damen told him he should but Laurent was fine with his books and Damen said it was a shame. Laurent didn’t think so even if he would certainly be a better player than Govart. He went to a different school than his brother anyways though so it wasn’t like they’d be playing for the same team.

“I may have done a little espionage,” he tells Auguste, answering his question.

Auguste frowns, “espionage? How did you do _that_?” he asks.

Auguste wasn’t going to like this but Laurent didn’t care. “I played a little hockey with Damen and flirted with him so he didn’t think anything of it. It’s hardly like he’s lacking groupies hanging around.” Laurent was just the only one of them with skill, he was sure.

“You pretended to be some dumbass from Akielos who wanted in Damen’s pants,” Auguste states more than says. “Laurent, I forbid you to ever step foot in that town again,” he says and Laurent snorts.

“Big brother, there is no way you could force me to do that. I got you good information, be appreciative of it,” Laurent tells him, offering Auguste a small smile before leaving the room.

*

Laurent probably could have listened to his brother but Damen made him curious after that first night so he went back. It was odd, Laurent thought, that he had noticed Laurent watching his footwork, and that he noticed that Laurent was holding back on the ice. He also wasn’t offended by Laurent’s talent and had even offered him a few tips on how to improve. It was all strange so he went back figuring more information could hardly hurt Auguste’s team and because he wanted to satisfy his own curiosity.

“You’re back,” Damen says, skating over to him pretty much right after he sees him.

“So I am,” Laurent says, smiling at him prettily. Damen’s eyes briefly drop to his lips but it a flicker the brief interest is gone again and Damen smiles back.

“I hope you have skates, I enjoyed the last game I played with you. You’ve got an eye for strategy,” he says.

Laurent raises an eyebrow, “have I now?” he asks.

“You do. You’re good at watching your opponent and learning how they move, and you’re almost as good at figuring out a way to steal the puck back. I was impressed,” he says. He might give Laurent a flirtatious smirk but the words were genuine and true. Damen believed them and more than that flirting, somehow, had become secondary to him. What was this?

“Well I had a good opponent,” Laurent tells him, falling back on flattery that mostly worked because it was true. Damen had an impressive skill in the sport and not just because, as Govart thought, he was large and imposing. Damen was clearly good at the intellectual part of the game too. Govart was projecting his being the large, stupid one who got lucky.

“Yeah, you did,” Damen says though not immodestly. To him this was a simple fact of skill and Laurent gets the bizarre impression that if someone were better than him he’d be the first to admit they were better. Hmm. “But a game is only as good as the opposing team anyways. Nothing is more irritating than winning a game the other team didn’t stand a chance in winning. Probably the only reason I like playing Vere so much, Auguste is brilliant and actually offers up a challenge,” he says and Laurent holds his breath, waiting for Damen to call him on being Auguste’s brother.

The moment, though he waits, never comes. “I agree,” Laurent says after a moment, “though I much prefer a game strictly of the mind. Probably the reason I’m in law school,” he tells Damen. It was a surprising admission but not an untrue one.

Damen laughs, “yeah, you seem like the lawyer type. You’d probably look good in a suit,” he says but the way he says it isn’t the usual crude kind of remark he’d usually get. This wasn’t the first time someone has told him he’d look good in a suit but it was the first time Laurent believed the person telling him that didn’t immediately want to strip it off of him.

“I look better in a suit than skates,” Laurent says.

“Too bad,” Damen tells him, shaking his head. “You’d make a fantastic player.”

*

Auguste was irritated that Laurent had gone back to Akielos when he had been forbidden but he promises not to go back and means it mostly because he had gotten Damen’s number. His intrigue had only been further peaked by their second game, which Damen also won though Laurent faired better against him this time. When Damen had offered his number at the end of it, to talk he had said, Laurent had oddly enough believed that that was his true intention. His interest, while obvious, didn’t seem to cloud his judgment like it did with most people.

Laurent had hardly expected Damen to text him any time soon, or ever, but two days after his second banishment from Akielos his phone buzzes with a text from Damen asking how his layer-y homework was going. ‘Lawyer-y’ was a quote. And the amount of emojis was absurd. Auguste might get along with Damen better than Laurent if this was his normal texting pattern; Auguste also had a fondness for emojis that was beyond normal. Laurent preferred actual grammar and structure in his messages. He informs Damen that the lawyer-y things were going well and that he had a debate the next week he was preparing for. He expects the conversation to pass easily but instead Damen takes an interest and starts asking questions until, by the time Laurent finally goes to bed, they had had a full blown debate via texts.

*

“Laurent!” Auguste calls and he sighs, pulling himself from his spot in front of the mirror where he was trying and mostly succeeding in arranging his hair.

“What?” he calls down the stairs to his brother.

“ _Why_ are you texting Damen?” Auguste calls back. Shit, well this wasn’t planned.

“I think he’s nice,” Laurent yells down to him.

“He’s the enemy, Laurent!” Auguste calls back, clearly offended by Laurent’s affections. He sighs and pads his way down the stairs, snatching his phone from Auguste and opening it with his fingerprint. Thank god for that useful feature.

He scrolls back in his text messages to the very beginning of their conversations a week ago and hands the phone back to Auguste wordlessly. He heads back up stairs while Auguste reads so he could finish with his hair. It doesn’t take long for Auguste to come up the stairs looking pinched and annoyed. “Why does he have to be a good person?” he asks more to himself than Laurent.

Laurent shrugs, “I’ve asked myself the same thing,” he says but it’s what he doesn’t say that speaks louder and Auguste knows it.

“He took a genuine interest in you,” he says, “he asks about your day.” Laurent nods because he knew this already. “Does he know you’re my brother?” Auguste asks eventually.

He shakes his head, “no, that hasn’t come up in regular conversation yet.” He did ask Laurent if they had met before because he looked familiar but he had told the truth when he said they’d never met. He was likely seeing his resemblance to his brother though.

Auguste sighs, “well if you want this to go any further you might want to tell him you were planning his demise,” he says, clapping Laurent on the shoulder and going.

Laurent, perhaps because he’s selfish, waits until after the next game with Vere to tell Damen.

*

He waits anxiously outside for Damen, wrapped up in his favorite jacket and his blue scarf that still did little to protect him against the chilly winter air. When Damen sees him he smiles wide and heads over but his smile drops when he sees the look on Laurent’s face. It was a testament to how much he paid attention to Laurent’s features to know he was troubled. “What’s wrong?” Damen asks lightly, stopping close to him but giving him space. Laurent, Damen had already learned during their second game together and subsequent conversations, that Laurent wasn’t fond of touch. He disliked the feeling the literal touch of people’s crude comments on his body and Damen, once he knew, had backed right off. It was another thing that threw Laurent for a loop. He knew how attractive he was, especially to Damen, but it didn’t seem to matter. Laurent was thankful for it.

“I’m Auguste’s brother, the only reason I came around was because I felt bad about him losing the last game you played together so I thought I’d spy on you a little to give the information to my brother so I’m sorry you lost the game it was my fault,” he says quickly, not desiring to draw this out. Unlike his usual speech style, which was planned again and again until it was perfect down to the last moment, this was rushed out because there was no planning something like this. He tried but he couldn’t predict how Damen would react, he wasn’t the predictable sort or at least not the type Laurent was used to, so he decided to just say what he meant and get it out of the way.

Damen frowns and Laurent waits for the anger or at least the confusion, which comes fast. “We didn’t lose the game,” he says.

Laurent’s eyebrows draw together, “what?” he asks.

“We didn’t lose the game,” Damen repeats. “I guess I found out why you look so familiar. I thought maybe I’d slept with you before,” he says, a brief look of confusion crossing his face again.

“I can assure you we’ve never slept together. You would have remembered that,” Laurent says primly. “But… you won the game?” he asks.

Damen nods, “and you apparently only had an interest in me to report back to your brother,” Damen says bluntly. “What do your debates have to do with hockey?” he asks.

Laurent’s cheeks turn the slightest bit red but he refuses to react further. “That may have been why I showed an interest initially but it wasn’t why I kept the interest,” Laurent tells him honestly. “You’re… intriguing,” he says eventually, “which was why I talked to you about my debates.”

For a long few moments Damen considers him and Laurent waits for the rest of the anger to show up but eventually Damen smiles, “did you actually tell you’re brother about my skill?” Damen asks and Laurent nods slowly. When Damen laughs Laurent frowns, unsure of why he was reacting this way. “So I still won the game and he knew all my secrets? Nice.” Damen nods to himself, clearly admiring his own skill. Laurent decides that this is deserved- he’s seen his brother play and given that Damen was at a disadvantage and still won the game was more than a little impressive.

“Congratulations,” Laurent says in a cordial tone, nodding at Damen in an almost formal way.

*

After the parking lot incident Laurent didn’t expect to hear from Damen thanks to their fictitious relationship start but a week later he gets a text from Damen. Laurent considers his options for a moment before he decides to answer back and see where this goes. He had a fondness for his and Damen’s absurd conversations that, for some reason, included far too many emojis though Damen once told him that he could probably text with perfect grammar drunk. He did, he knew because Auguste liked to tease him about it the few times he’s gotten drunk and texted him.

With his reply sent he turns back to his books, which were spread out around with him with several highlighters to properly note what was important. The different colored highlighters categorized how important each piece of information was plus he had his notes. It helped when he was trying to organize his debates or when he was studying for exams even if no one let him live his hyper organization down. When his phone starts ringing he jumps in surprise and picks up the device, frowning when he sees Damen’s number.

“Hello?” he says in surprise, eyebrows drawing together in confusion.

On the other end Damen laughs, “you sound confused,” he says.

Laurent nods even though Damen can’t see it. “Well yes, generally when you tell someone that your initial presence in their life was an attempt to plot your loss at a hockey championship they tend to be angry. You don’t seem very angry,” Laurent points out. He would have known what to do if Damen was angry, he knew how to deal with that, but Damen was strange. He supposed it was no different than his other odd behaviors but it still irritated him. Usually people were so painfully easy to predict for Laurent, it’s what made him good at dealing with his family and it made him good at his debates. It made him somewhat useless when Damen refused to behave like a normal person.

“Yeah, see I’ve thought about that. I asked around about you and apparently you’re pretty…” Damen trails off and Laurent laughs without humor.

“Frigid. Cold. A cast iron bitch. I could go on,” he says bluntly. He knew his reputation well and now, apparently, so did Damen.

“Sure, whatever people say,” Damen says but the tone he uses is dismissive. “Problem is that your reputation doesn’t live up to reality.” His tone is confident enough to make Laurent laugh again.

“Oh, have I been warm with you? I wasn’t aware,” he says flippantly.

Damen laughs too, “no, not warm. But you took an interest and you don’t take interests, at least according to your reputation. So what is it that drew you back? I’m sure you got plenty on how I play from the first time we met,” Damen points out.

He had, yes. And his return was useful, that was true. “I…” Laurent starts and he trails off for a moment to gather his words. It wasn’t often he was without them either; usually he had plenty of sharp quips and ready explanations. “You’re attracted to me,” he states. It’s a fact; there was no shame in admitting it though he could almost hear Damen’s confusion on the other end. “When people are attracted to me they don’t see past my looks. There has never been a moment where you _didn’t_ see past my looks. I found it intriguing.”

“You found it refreshing,” Damen corrects. “You’re beautiful yes, but that’s probably the least interesting thing about you.” The tone he uses is honest and clear, he means his words in a way few people do.

“Thank you,” Laurent says and he means it. Not many people assumed there was anything behind his pretty features but Damen never saw anything but a whole person. Laurent never thought he’d see the day.

*

Auguste was not happy about any of this mostly because he was a sore loser and didn’t like losing to Damen even though he’d technically cheated thanks to Laurent. “I think you can find someone else,” Auguste says and Laurent rolls his eyes.

“I could have anyone I want,” he says matter-of-factly. “But since I have decided to have standards- unlike _some_ people,” he says, casting a look at Govart and the rest of the hockey team, “I decided Damen was a good choice. Deal with it, big brother.”

A knock on the door interrupts Auguste’s reply and the entire hockey team all but runs to the front window. Laurent shakes his head at their antics and opens the door to find Damen standing behind it looking beautiful as always with his tanned skin and tousled dark hair. They would contrast beautifully next to each other, especially since Damen had a preference for red where Laurent preferred blue. He’s always taken pleasure in aesthetics even if he was less gaudy than most of his family.

“Watch he doesn’t freeze your dick off!” Govart yells to Damen, who rolls his eyes.

He might have replied but Laurent was already speaking. “Oh shove a cock in it, Govart. Preferably in your mouth so I don’t have to listen to your yammering,” he calls back.

Damen grins, “fuck what he says,” and Laurent laughs.

“Only if you want to catch something,” he quips back and Damen snorts.

“I’ll take my chances with freezing my dick off.” Behind him he hears Auguste jump into the fray to defend his brother’s honor and he quickly presses himself out the door before Auguste turns his big brother tirade on poor Damen.

**Author's Note:**

> [My writing Tumblr](https://tenspencerriedplease.tumblr.com/)


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